president s update - pngvr.weebly.com · doug is sufficiently well to either resume his...

He wrote the difinitive account of Gua-dalcanal as well as the Downfall. The book is published bo WW Norton & Company Inc., New York, NY . I recently bought my copy through Amazon for USD 45 and I have yet to read this 527 pages of text and 150 pages of refer-ences, notes and appendicies. The fly leaf explains the story which begins with China’s long -neglected years of re-sistance and expands into the Malaya/Singapore, Philippines, Netherlands East Indies , India and Burma and Pearl Harbour campaigns. This first book of a trilogy is obviously well re-searched and claims it provides a fresh evaluation of the political , economic and military aspects of the early years of WW2- I look forward to a long and good read.

A reminder: If you wish to know more about NGVR, PNGVR, your Association or your Military Museum, your website www.pngvr.weebly.com is the place to go. If you wish to add a story or article, please contact webmaster Trevor Connell, his details are on the rear page. If you have free time to spare, use it to bone up on the myriad of stories held in our past editions of the Harim Tok Tok , all are held in our website www.pngvr.weebly.com

Phil Ainsworth, May 2020

Fortunately I have not heard of anyone of our members or friends and/or their fami-lies having been affected by the Corona Virus, and I hope the situation remains that way. Now is a good time to get in touch with your fellow members and friends to ensure they are okay .Please let me know if anyone has been or is affect-ed.

COVID-19 restrictions prevented our usual ANZAC day activities. None the less many, if not all of us, celebrated Anzac Day in our own way. A sample of how our members observed the solemnity of the day and the service and sacrifice of our servicemen are illustrated on pages 14 and 15 of this issue. Thank you for sharing your ANZAC Day photographs and thoughts.

Fran Ng has advised that Doug is on the mend and that she is expecting him to be home in a few weeks- that is good news! Due to Doug’s illness the Committee was obliged to appoint an acting Treasurer until Doug is sufficiently well to either resume his responsibilities or until next AGM’s spill of all constitutional positions. Kieran Nel-son was nominated and he was kind to accept the position of Acting Treasurer commencing immediately. It was also de-cided to convert to and use electronic banking .

Annual subscriptions will soon be due . Electronic notices will be sent to those on our email distribution lists and the usual hardcopy notices will be sent out with the June Harim Tok Tok issue. Your early payment is sought as the Association’s fund raising has been restricted due to COVID-19 limitations.

Although we can expect a gradual lifting of the present restrictions, social distancing rules may prevent gatherings of people for memorial services and such like for some time. Hopefully the restrictions will be suffi-ciently relaxed for our Montevideo Maru Memorial Service to be held in some form at 10am, Wednesday 1st July in the Hall of Memories, Brisbane Cenotaph. You will be advised of details as and when we are able to finalise arrangements.

You may recall Philip Selth’s 2017 talk in Everyman’s Hut Wacol about the Coast-watchers, particularly about Jack Read, Paul Mason and John Murphy. Sadly Phil-ip died on 3rd May in Sydney from an ag-gressive cancer. He was born on 21 Octo-

ber 1949 and died aged 70 years. Before his retirement, he was the Executive Director of the NSW Bar Association. He was also a historian with an interest in Papua New Guinea. He researched and wrote many stories about cadet kiaps and prominent people, several histories of which were accepted for the prestig-ious Australian Dictionary of Biographies. Hopefully I can obtain copies of many of his stories for publication in our Harim Tok Tok. Our thoughts are with his sur-viving wife, Francis and son Alexander.

I presently have three books about the Pacific War, two of which I have nearly completed and one on hold. These are:

Japanese Army Opera-tion in the South Pacific Area , New Britain and Papua Campaigns 1942-1943, translated by Ste-ven Bullard and published by the AWM, Canberra, 2007. It is an analysis of the Japanese perspective

based on research from primary and secondary sources. This translation is an attempt to balance the understanding between what many contemporary books on these campaigns conclude with the official history of Japan’s land operations in Papua and New Guinea , particularly emphasising the importance of opera-tions and conditions in other theatres, in the first year of the Pacific War. From what I have read so far, I agree with its claim.

The Spell Broken, ex-ploding the myth of Jap-anese Invincibility by Peter Brune, published by Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW , 1997. Peter is the author of bestselling Those Ragged Bloody Heroes and

Gona’s Gone! The Spell Broken is a his-tory of the battles at Milne Bay , Buna and Sanananda from the records and recollections of their survivors. It is a stirring read!

Tower of Skulls, a histo-ry of the Asia- Pacific War, July 1937 -May 1942 by Richard B Frank, 2020. Richard , an inter-nationally acclaimed his-torian, was a platoon leader in the 101st Air-borne Division in Vietnam.

President’s update

INSIDE THIS ISSUE :

WAR FUGITIVES IN JUNGLE 2

SWORDS 5

GREAT EASTER EGG HUNT 6 SIR SAMUEL PETHEBRIDGE 7

DIGGERS OF LARK FORCE 8

3200 YEARS IN ONE PHOTO 8

SIR PITA SIMOGUN 9 EFFECTS OF WW1 IN AUSTRALIA 9

AUSSIE COYS DEF CONTRACTS 11

NAMING OF MT HAGEN 11

WAR-TIME NURSE HONOURED 12

CHINESE RESEARCH OFF WA 12

KOKODA TRACK VET DIES 13

NEW OP COVID-19 ESTABLISHED 13

AUST VETERANS COVENANT 14

ANZAC DAY 2020 14

VALE. KENNETH CONNOLLY 15

www.pngvr.weebly.com

VOLUME 122 DATE JUNE, 2020

http://www.pngvr.weebly.com


WAR FUGITIVES IN NEW BRITAIN JUNGLE

Copy of letter written by Victor A Pratt dated 1st May 1942

(Editorial Comment – This letter has been sent to PNGAA by a fami-ly member of the writer and traces the events of the Japanese inva-sion of Rabaul and the writer’s subsequent experiences over the following months. It is reproduced unaltered. References to this letter are contained in Margaret Reeson’s book ‘ A Very Long War’ (reviewed in Una Voce December 2001), also Alice Bowman’s book ‘Not Now Tomorrow’.

The whereabouts of the original handwritten letter is uncertain but it may be held in the Australian Archives, Canberra. To PNGAA and the family’s knowledge, it has not been previously published. Like many other “fugitives” lying in no known graves, this letter repre-sents Vic Pratt’s legacy to those who survived.)

“I promised that I would let you know if the worst happened; well, it has happened, and the Government has advised that all whites had better take for the bush”, said Brian as he bounced into my house on the evening of January 21, whilst I was peacefully reading. I asked him what had happened and when should we go bush? He then explained matters as far as he had been permitted to learn by telephone, which was under strict military censorship. Thirty enemy warships were then only a few hours distant and heading for Rabaul. However, I gathered a few essential personal requirements together, and went to bed for three or four hours.

At 4 a.m. next morning (we had) the motor lorry loaded up with an assortment of useful goods needed for camping for several weeks in the jungle. A native driver took charge of the lorry, whilst I drove my Dodge car. First we drove to Bri-an Sweetapple’s house, a distance of 21/2 miles, and there we joined four other white civilians who had assembled a further selection of useful house-keeping needs in a motor lorry. At daylight the five of us set off with the five motor ve-hicles and travelled a further three miles to the end of a new road where we considered should be a safe spot for a few days. We parked all the motors just inside the bush then set about erecting a small hut out of the bush materials. Up to this stage we had the assistance of about 25 natives, which lightened the labours of building and carrying goods.

As I departed hurriedly before daylight, it meant that my 70 indentured labourers were left to their own devices, without any guiding hand. At 6 a.m. when they began to assemble to receive their detailed instructions for the days work, they slowly dispersed with empty heads and idle hands. A few hundred pounds worth of goods which I left behind were later collected by these natives, so they were well supplied with their needs for some weeks. That night, and during the dark hours of next morning the real Japanese bombardment of the Rabaul and Kokopo areas, from the sea and air, were being carried out with such intensity that our poorly-manned garrison had no hope whatsoever. The Japanese landed their full force according to their plan, which unfortunately was not according to the plan arranged by our troops.

During the day the sixth civilian came upon our camp and joined us. Then in the afternoon 17 fleeing A.I.F. troops made themselves at home with us. Next day 8 more of our retreating troops found us and attached themselves. Be it understood that all these troops came to us with nothing more than what they stood up in, neither food nor change of clothing. However, they were all armed and had a fair supply of ammunition. This day the seventh civilian attached him-self to us. The following day, 24th, we decided to move half a mile further into the bush, and there erect two huts to ac-commodate the 32 of us. During the morning Major W. T. Owen with a well-armed detachment of 32 strong contacted us, but he and his men had the right soldier’s spirit, they decided to make, by way of the main roads, further down the coast via Put-Put, and to fight if opportunity presented itself. Some of our party assert that Major Owen suggested, more than once, to our band of 25 soldiers that they join up with

the former detachment, which would have made quite a useful section. This invitation was not accepted by the troops with us, who were now comparatively comfortable and well fed. This was the first major blunder made by these troops whilst with us.

During times when our No.1 Camp was temporarily unguarded the natives freely looted the hut of much of our cherished sup-plies. Whilst the civilians were erecting the No.2 Camp the troops were carrying our goods in, they threw away and left be-hind a further quantity of our stores and much of our personal needs. They even opened a large case of native twist tobacco which I had brought with me, and they abandoned about 3,200 sticks, of this tobacco, which was quickly looted by the natives. Such tobacco is the natives’ main medium of currency, and we were to learn that later, as our money was now looked upon as valueless, it was the only means of currency. At this time the tobacco was worth about 4d. per stick, but a few weeks later the value was 1/-. That was the second major mistake made by these troops.

The war on New Britain lasted just as long as it took the Japa-nese to land without undue opposition, and that was a matter of about 2 hours in the morning darkness. Many of the A.I.F. found the Japanese moving about among them before the landing was realised. Some of our troops told me that they heard remarks such as “Is that you Jack?” and discovered that they were ut-tered by the Japanese who filtered through our troops. When the landing was made our handful of poorly equipped troops had not the slightest chance, so the order to retreat came from some-where. The retreat was the most ghastly affair that one could ever imagine. Our troops scattered in all directions excepting towards their camp which was the last place they would be able to reach.

There were several extraordinary features of the New Britain farce –

Firstly, the A.I.F. camp Headquarters were at Rabaul, so that a landing enemy would immediately cut off our troops or quickly encircle them on the peninsular on which Rabaul is situated. The former actually did happen. Of course the fantastic argument might be advanced that the enemy did not first land at our inland aerodrome where our troops expected.

Secondly, it appears that (from our Headquarters records), most stores and accommodation were left in convenient order for the enemy.

Thirdly, apparently no definite instructions were promulgated for reassembly of our troops to a stated point, where Headquarters should have promptly retreated, and where adequate food sup-plies should have been stored weeks previously. The class of country lends itself admirably for such a provision for reorganisa-tion.

Fourthly, as our force had been split up and scattered the idea of each part seemed to be to get as far away from the enemy as practicable. And this is the sorry story as we saw it. After the first four or five days the Japanese were driving around the bush roads daily giving extraordinary opportunities for guerrilla war-fare. The Japanese were always afraid to go off a vehicular rood, and in fact nearly always travelled in motor vehicles. After about six weeks they realised that they were so safe that they some-times travelled by horses. It would have been a simple matter for sections of our troops to conceal themselves in the bush near any country road and fire a volley into each small party that ap-proached. This method could have been carried out in dozens of different country roads with practically no risk. In such rough jungle country it would take an enormous enemy army to prevent it. Food for troops adjacent to these roads was obtainable near at hand from plantation gardens and natives. Each section of troops would need to change its location each night. Movement at night was perfectly safe as the Japanese were not known to be away from the beach then. By these means the enemy would have been kept at Rabaul and Kokopo townships, and the inland aerodrome may not have been any use to them.


One day several weeks later when talking with natives from a dis-tant area they detailed what even those primitives thought about our troops throwing away their arms and fleeing for the bush and mountains to avoid any further fighting. The natives described how effective small armed forces would have been in surprise attacks on the enemy about the many secluded roads. Without any contacts with any other whites since the enemy landing it seemed amazing that these backward and untutored natives should, from their own minds, be able to advance strategic theo-ries which officers and soldiers of the A. I. F. lacked after about two years training. This information conveyed to us that discarding arms had been generally adopted.

However, probably the whole blame for the …(indecipherable)… defence organisation on New Britain cannot be imposed on the military authorities there, because co-operation with and by the Civil Administration was not only lacking but opposed. My own experience at an interview with the responsible Administration official some weeks before the enemy occupation provided me with the knowledge that no useful advice or plans for the resi-dents, in case of emergency could be obtained. Fortunately, our women were evacuated in time, but only due to lucky circum-stances did they arrive at their destination. I suggested that the women of our Allies, the Chinese, should have been similarly cared for, but no, they were left to become ravaged by the filthy class of Japanese who composed their Army in New Britain.

A reliable person, described to me an instance of unpreparedness and inefficiency that was stated to have happened several days before the Japanese landed. The raiding enemy planes shot down a R.A.A.F. plane into the sea opposite a friendly mission. The clergyman immediately went out and recovered the two dead bod-ies, and then phoned this information to the Military, and asking for instructions regarding disposal of the bodies. The clergyman was willing to give these men, whose fighting did deserve admira-tion a decent burial on the spot. However, after waiting by the telephone for more than an hour without being able to obtain in-structions the clergyman set off for Rabaul in his own vehicle and there delivered the bodies.

Some months before the war against Japan commenced, Regula-tions required that all aliens were to hand in to our authorities all cameras. At a later date numerous cameras were discovered at a Powerful Mission, with the result that the layman was charged and fined 5 pounds. Further it was known that some young workmen had been arriving from Germany from time to time, even as late as 1939; and became absorbed in this Mission’s personnel. Most of these enemy aliens were not interned and as far as we know no exhaustive search through the premises of the foreign Mission was ever carried cut by our authorities.

On the 26th we decided that we were still rather close to vehicular roads so we all proceeded to move camp again. At this stage the troops made their third terrible blunder, in that they decided to throw away their rifles and ammunition. This meant that they would hereafter remain a useless detachment of troops, with the purpose of eating our food supply as long as I could maintain it, with surrender to follow. By now we had no natives to assist us in carrying our stores, they had all become unsettled and could see that looting from the various homesteads was as a more agreea-ble pastime for them. Further they were aware that none of their legitimate labours could function or be enforced. We all carried heavy loads for a distance of about 21/2 miles through the jungle and wading along a creek, to a spot in a valley where we con-structed Camp No.3. On this track two more soldiers and two more civilians caught up with us and attached themselves, making a party of 36 in all. At this camp we erected several huts from bush material and set about establishing housekeeping and nec-essary duties in an orderly manner. It fell to my lot to be elected to the charge of the civilian section whilst the only officer with the troops was in charge of them. As I had provided and continued providing nearly all the supplies I was necessarily equivalent to a Camp Commandant.

I arranged with free natives and indentured natives from my To-bera Plantation to bring in fresh vegetables, fruit and clothing. I

was now able to see that all the troops and civilians were provided with towels, mosquito nets, blankets, and change of clothing. As the tobacco was exhausted I was able to provide the camp with native stick tobacco and my own grown cured tobacco, which is most suitable for cigars, or when cut up, makes a splendid pipe or cigarette smoke. A plentiful supply of fresh vegetables and fruit was main-tained in this camp. I sent to Tobera for my radio and with the batteries we had were able to get the latest news each day. Although we had a box of medicines, I had some more brought in, also a couple of pigs which we killed for fresh meat and frying fat. I brought about two dozen fowls of which we used to daily make into stew. In fact there was no essential requirements missing.

Including the stores at the commencement there were about 30 dozen tins of meats and 700 lbs of rice, which I wished to last as long as practicable whilst fresh produce was obtainable. Unfortunately the troops were so careless and irresponsible that I was quite unable to check their wasteful use of goods. At times I would give instructions that fowls would be the meat issue of the day, then during my absence half a dozen tins of meat would also be used. Cigars would be half-smoked then discarded. One pig which I bought, killed and cleaned, the troops were too indifferent to bother cooking it and consequently half of it was wasted. Without asking or warning, on the second day in the bush, the troops suddenly opened a 5 lb tin of sealed biscuits and ate them. It was our desire to retain eatables in sealed tins for use when we got further into the bush where fresh produce would be unobtainable.

Whilst in this camp four more A.I.F. soldiers wandering individually about the jungle came to our camp and joined us. They were made reasonably comfortable. One poor chap had been seriously wounded about ten days before he reached us, so our first aid civilian (Mr.W.P.Huntley) did excellent work in cleaning the wounds, and with persistent attention probably saved the soldier’s life.

A few days after arriving at this camp some of the more venturesome soldiers made up parties of three or four and marched out with the idea of getting further into the moun-tains then endeavouring to make the coast further down the island, where there would be prospects of being picked up by warships or sea planes. We heard no more about the enterprising efforts of these soldiers. As each party departed from us I issued them with about ten days provi-sions and essential personal equipment. Each Sunday while I was in this camp, Mr. Huntley held a divine service at which every man attended.

Right from the beginning of our camping we civilians con-sidered we were unwise to be living with members of the combatant forces, on account of the different rules regard-ing treatment if seen or captured by the enemy. For this reason four of us, including myself, decided to move to a new camp which we built about half a mile further into the jungle. The bush was so dense here that on one occasion in the daytime I went forty yards away from our hut and got lost, and by the time I had tried to find my way back I was twice that distance away. I called out loudly and received a response from one of our party at the house, then by re-peated calls and answers I was able to find myself. We made this move after about four weeks camping. We still kept daily contact with the troops at the former camp, but they had immediately decided to consume their rice and tinned meat, regardless of the future. One week later they had succeeded in reducing their stock considerably, so quickly resolved to split up the balance, and the twenty remaining members divided themselves into parties of fourpersons each set off on uncertain journeys, but with early capture staring them in the face. At this time the vil-lage natives suggested to four of us that there were differ-ences among the men of their villages. Some of these na-


tives were supplying us with food, whilst the Japanese were visiting their village and warning them that shooting was the only punishment for supplying the “white-skins” with food. We were living on jungle land within the district of these na-tives which was an additional risk to them and to us. It seemed that at any time a disgruntled native might inform the Japs of our whereabouts, and probably made to guide the enemy to us. Although we had been only one week in this camp we proceeded to move once more. Up till now we had kept going further inland from our original take-off, where we had hidden our motor vehicles, so that when our vehicles were found by the enemy he would then have been able to track us down. By this time the Japanese had actual-ly found our vehicles and, (because we had put them all out of action) had towed them away. Therefore we did not con-tinue our original direction, but instead, doubled back part of the way, then travelled at right-angles for a distance of about 5 or 6 miles through the bush to a precipitous gorge of about 400 feet deep which I previously knew about. This No.5 camp was about 5 miles from Tobera, even closer than the previous camp. For this move we were able to secure the help of about 20 natives to carry our goods and erect a hut. Here we believed, we could settle down for same months without being seriously disturbed.

I immediately sent word of our location to the Tobera na-tives, and some came into me a few days later. I asked them to bring me articles they could find about my looted home-stead which would be useful in our camp. They brought us some fruit, a little tea and sugar, plenty of my own grown coffee, books, odd pieces of clothing, fowls, pigs, goats etc, the livestock we killed for meat. Indentured natives on near-er plantations brought us sweet potatoes, vegetables, bana-nas, paw paws, etc., which I bought with stick tobacco.

About a mile from this camp three other white civilians were camped in the bush during the day, and in the evening re-turned to a homestead on a plantation nearby to sleep and have their meals in comfort. This plantation was well off any beaten track and the Japs had not paid any visits there.

Five weeks after the Japanese landing I, with one of our party, decided to walk to my Tobera homestead one moon-light night. When we arrived there we found the house and all the sheds and cupboards broken open and completely ransacked. The floor was covered with my office papers in such a state that it was useless to try and save anything. Broken glass from picture frames was scattered in the mess, also broken crockery. The visits of the Japanese may have been responsible for portion of this disorder but I am con-vinced that the natives caused the far greater amount of damage. The Japanese took the bed mattress, battery charger and the sewing machine, but the refrigerator was still in its place. However a few days later I was told the Japs had taken away the refrigerator and two saddles. I left over 100 fowls, but on my visit not one was left ,

After five weeks our radio batteries began to get very weak, so we were only able to receive direct news sometimes, and that at 9 p.m. At eight weeks we were still getting most of the 9 o’clock news, and what we missed could always get from our neighbours who were still using their radio for that one lot of news daily.

One early morning we found a snake about four feet long in our bed under the mosquito net with us. After we were able to find the matches, lamp and a stick that enemy was killed. Our meals in camp mainly consisted of pumpkin, sweet po-tatoes, tapioca tubers, yams, taro, rice, paw-paw, pineap-ples, limes, the cream from grated coconuts, and sweet po-tato leaves for the greens. The main dish for each meal largely consisted of boiled sweet potatoes and pumpkin. Tapioca tubers grated, then boiled, made an enjoyable food very much like Breakfast Delight. To this we added coconut cream which is obtained by grating the fresh flesh of the coconut, then squeezing from it the cream which is rich in

sugar and oil. This was a course which we relished as a sweet at nearly every meal, sometimes with the addition of mashed bana-nas. Tea and sugar became exhausted, but with ample coffee beans brought in from Tobera, which we husked, roasted and ground, I was able to maintain a plentiful supply of high grade coffee. This with the addition of the real cream squeezed from grated coconuts made an excellent beverage without sugar. As far as we knew there was not one store throughout New Britain where a person could buy anything whatsoever. Money was useless, and during all this time I never spent a shilling on any-thing.

Our party kept in splendid health, but we had to be most careful to give immediate and constant attention to any scratch, in the bush where cleanliness is not the best, may develop into a sore and tropical ulcers. These sores or ulcers would take two months to cure, if neglected or unnoticed for twenty-four hours. I was unfortunate enough to actually experience this.

For the first week, we slept on bags laid on the ground, but as that would sooner or later prove unhealthy, we made timber floors about a foot off the ground, and with bags on the top of that, we used as beds for the next four weeks. This was terribly hard and one would be turning about many times during the night with aching limbs. Eventually we made individual beds with two bags stretched on two poles, and this resulted in a very com-fortable stretcher. Formerly we were unable to adopt this idea owing to the shortage of mosquito nets. We were required to accommodate four persons under each net.

Each time natives visited us they gave us bits of information about what the Japs were doing locally, and the treatment im-posed on their white captives. We were told that the whites were made to carry frightful loads of cargo from the ships, very poorly fed, and guarded in compounds at night. That one way of retain-ing natives in safe custody was to handcuff them then string many of them along a long pole. The Japs had no courts for na-tives so if a native case was brought under the notice of the ene-my they made a day for the chiefs to assemble to witness the shooting of the accused. We heard that the Mission Church was being used as a stable for the horses, and that the Bishop’s dwelling was utilised as a Japanese Headquarters. The laymen of the Mission, most of them Germans with a good knowledge of the natives and the district, were made to carry out many enemy duties, such as marshalling the natives to do various work and collecting food stuffs for the enemy to obtain labour for defence works, particularly in digging trenches and repairing roads.

The natives said that local half-castes were voluntarily assisting the enemy, and were visiting our abandoned homesteads for the purpose of looting or destroying the household goods. On March 26 natives advised us that the previous day fifteen Japanese, with only two rifles had taken up residence in Tobera homestead and were making my natives dig up all the clear ground near the house to plant vegetables. This constant occupancy of Tobera with a firm supervision over the natives by a half-caste would necessarily restrict my own staff in bringing goods to me. It would also expose my cattle and goats to a greater risk of being killed more quickly. My 70 indentured natives were all paraded under the helpful assistance of my chief boss boy, who was named “the captain” and seemed to relish the authority of a “Quisling”. They made a fire of pieces of furniture, about 10 tons of copra left on hand by me, about 1200 empty copra sacks, and all other goods which could then be found in the sheds. The im-perative Japanese instructions seemed to produce more reason-able work and obedience from the natives than that existing un-der our “soft soap” rule and weak, laws.

The huts which we had were erected quickly with bush material did not last long. After eleven weeks our huts became less rain proof, and it seemed that we were reasonably safe in our gorge, so we decided to erect a more permanent building. Thirteen of my Tobera natives carried in many loads of long grass (about 4 ft. long) obtained about 2 miles distant. With this grass the na-tives thatched the roof of the new house, the size of which was l7ft. x l7ft. x l3ft. to the ridge. All bearers or rafters were securely


tied together with bush vines obtained on the spot, and no nails or hammer were used in the construction, and cost noth-ing to erect.

Nearly every day some of many groups of visiting natives paid us a visit. They would make their way through the thick bush in single file and noiselessly come upon us in two, threes, or even half a dozen at a time, each loaded with some provi-sions for gift or sale to us. Usually they would stay about our camp for hours at a time, and very often would be given some odd jobs to do which they always did willingly. All natives who visited us with goods would have given them to us without payment, and repeatedly told us they were “sorry too much” for us. Hundreds of different natives were represented in those who were hospitable to us. Many of my Tobera natives were excellent with their services and attention in delivering to us the variety of goods, when I asked for them, though not a store or shop existed. Despite the assertion of many white people that the native is devoid of a gracious nature I can say that that is substantially untrue. To quote a further instance, one native came to me and quietly offered me 3/6d, his total cash recourses, saying that as I was in need of goods and he was so sorry for me, it may help to keep me from starving. Although I have spent sixteen years among these natives there is this aspect of their character which we were unable to perceive until such necessity arose. Those natives voluntarily and earnestly extended their generous native customs to all the white people in need which would not have been sur-passed by any civilised race. Probably over 100 natives brought in provisions for me, while several hundred more knew of our location, but as far as we know not one of them conveyed to the Japanese a true word regarding our wherea-bouts for the four months of our hiding, despite being fre-quently pressed for information about us. Some times when the natives brought in goods to us it would be too late in the evening for them to find their way through the dense bush to go home before dark, so they would sleep in our camp for the night. On one occasion a native who had murdered two po-licemen spent the night in our camp. He had been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and completed two years of the period when he was let loose with all the other prisoners at the time of the Japanese invasion. The nature of natives is such that we had not the slightest fear of this murderer.

We nearly always had a plentiful supply of fat for frying pur-poses. When the Japs killed a beast the natives would follow and obtain the fat, unknown to the enemy, then bring in a few pounds to us. The Japs did not bury or burn the refuse of dead animals, but just left all manner of rubbish to lie about and rot. The filthy habits of the Japs brand them, even in the minds of our natives, as the lowest form of human beings on the face of the earth.

During the first two or three weeks planes were very active,

which was followed by a comparative quietness for about a month, then our raiding planes started to make more frequent visits, which kept increasing. Usually we could hear and some-times see these and enemy planes when any activity was tak-ing place. We could also hear any bombing and any anti-aircraft firing which was a most pleasing sound to us. In our camps we did not find the days drag for want of occupation. We were kept quite busy with all kinds of jobs such as the nec-essary preparing and cooking of meals, preparing tobacco, coffee and cocoa from their raw state, which is a very lengthy process when all is done by hand. We spent time in washing our clothes, getting firewood, and keeping the camp and sur-roundings in a tidy condition. By exchanging few books we maintained a satisfactory supply of reading material. After eight weeks with us one of our party transferred to our neighbours’ camp, leaving three in our party. About the same time two of our neighbours moved out to about twelve miles distant at a plantation …(indecipherable)… their move …(indecipherable)…friendly plane or ship …(indecipherable)…for about a fort-night later they were captured by the enemy. This left a party of two in our neighbours’ camp.

The single item most appreciated by us whilst in our jungle camping, and before our relief, was the news announcing the appointment of General MacArthur. When the usual news an-them came over the radio each evening we re-cast the words and sang the following lines:---

“Then gallant Mac from Aussie sails to reach New Guinea shore

True Yankee courage ‘ll spur him on Till he opens our front door

Then here he’ll raise two old old flags The standards of the brave

With all our hearts then let us sing Advance MacArthur bold.”

Each page of the transcript is initialled “L.D.” and the last page is accompanied by a footnote, also by “L.D.”, that reads -

“The letter was buried somewhere near the camp with the knowledge of a trusted native who retrieved it later. It is be-lieved that a native eventually gave Vic’s hiding-place to the Japs and a native who was up a coconut palm or other tree where he was hiding saw the Japs behead Vic for (stealing) food.”

The above was published in the PNGAA’s newsletter “Una Voce”, March, 2004.

SWORDS

There are four types of swords used within the Australian Ar-my. They are the swords worn by Generals, the Cavalry sabre and the Artillery and Infantry swords.

The General’s sword or, to use its correct title, the Mameluke sword, is a simple design with no pommel (the knob on the sword’s hilt or handle).

It is a copy of the Turkish or Eqyptian Shamshir – a curved slashing Cavalry sword. Mamelukes were a group of Turkish soldiers romanticized in Victorian England, hence the associa-tion of the name with the design.

The Cavalry saber worn by RAAC (Royal Australian Armoured Corps) and AA Avn (Australian Army Aviation) is the British Army’s 1912 model. This design, with a fully enclosed ‘bowl’ guard, was seen as the best between the ‘cut’ and the ‘thrust’ type sabers.

The Gunners’ sword was introduced into the Royal Artillery in 1788. The Royal Horse Artillery thought the infantry sword of the day was too heavy and was “… good neither for cut nor thrust…”, however the Light Cavalry pattern sword was de-


I wish there was a way to donate fat like you donate blood.

Studio portrait of 4470 Acting Sgt Victor Alfred Pratt, 23rd Battalion. A

clerk from Lucknow, Vic Prior to enlistment, Sgt Pratt embarked with the

23rd Reinforcements from Melbourne on RMS Malwa on 23 April 1916. Follow-ing his transfer to the Aus-tralian Army Pay Corps, his promotion to Sgt was

confirmed and he was subsequently attached to

the 3rd Pioneer Battalion. He returned to Australia

on 6 July 1919

scribed as “…impetus to the slash as the mounted man flanked past his quarry…”.

The 1882 light Cavalry sword incorporated a three-bar hilt, which assisted in making the sword even lighter. The sword underwent more changes in 1850. The blade of the sword is slightly curved.

The current Infantry sword is the British Infantry pattern of 1805. The blade has a flat back and an even taper to the cut-ting edge, so that it is in the form of a wedge.

The sword knot, or leather loop, hangs free on the Cavalry and Artillery swords; the user would slip the strap over his hand and wrap it around his wrist so that he would not drop and lose the sword during use.

The dangling knot was seen by the Infantry as a hindrance so it was wrapped around the guard to keep it out of the way.

WO1 C.J. Jobson, former RSM Ceremonial and Protocol.

The Great Easter Egg Hunt

On the night of 30 Mar 1972, a second AC-130 in as many nights was downed while flying truck interdiction over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in eastern Laos. The first one downed had no survivors, unfortunately. Spectre 22 was much more fortunate as it was eventually determined that all 15 crew members had survived—unfortunately their bailout positions ranged 40 miles across southern Laos in bad guy territory.

As a rescue airborne mission commander, my crew of 7 and I were scrambled from our base at Korat RTAFB late that night to go to the scene and coordinate the rescue. What ensued was an all night effort to search for and locate all 15 crew mem-bers, then execute their recoveries utilizing nearly all of the SAR (search and rescue) aircraft available at NKP, as well as Air America H-34 helicopters.

By early morning, all crew members had been located, their conditions determined, and a plan for the pickups had been made. Eventually four HH-53 Jolly Green helicopters made 13 pickups and two Air America helicopters (as fate would deter-mine) made the most hazardous pickups of two crew members located closest to the HCM Trail. All 15 were picked up by about 0930L on 31 Mar and returned to their base at Ubon with a wild celebration.

The mission had utilized over 100 aircraft of various kinds in-cluding fighter bombers, recce, OV-10 FACs, other AC-130s, HH-53s, A-1 Sandies, two Air America H-34s and 3 King HC-130 aircraft like I flew.

This mission turned out to be the largest successful rescue of all crew members of a downed multi-position aircraft of the war. Because of the date coinciding with Easter 1972, it was referred to as “The Great Easter Egg Hunt” in Air Force res-cue lore.

One of the survivors, Bob Jacobs, a gunner on the ill fated aircraft wrote his story of that longest night:

http://www.spectre-association.org/pdfs/Spectre_Rescue.pdf This link makes great reading. Editor


Telefomin Airport, West Sepik Province, PNG. 5,900 ft. In Nov 1953, Patrol Officer Gerry Szarka, Cadet Patrol Officer

Geoff Harris, Constable Buritori and Constable Purari were killed by the locals at Telefomin.

A touch of Army Humour

Dear Mum & Dad,

I am well. Hope youse are too. Tell me big brothers

Doug and Phil that the Army is better than workin’ on

the farm and tell them to get in bloody quick smart be-

fore the jobs are all gone! I wuz a bit slow in settling

down at first, because ya don’ hafta get outta bed until

6am. But I like sleeping in now, cuz all ya gotta do

before brekky is make ya bed and shine ya boots and

clean ya uniform. No bloody cows to milk, no calves to

feed, no feed to stack, nothin’. Ya haz gotta shave

though, but its not so hard coz there’s lotsa hot water and

even a light to see what ya doing! At brekky ya get cere-

al, fruit and eggs but there’s no kangaroo steaks or pos-

sum stew like wot Mum makes. You don’t get fed again

until noon, and by that time all the city boys are bug-

gered because we’ve been on a ‘route march’ geez, it’s on-

ly just like walking to the windmill in the back paddock.

This one will kill me brothers Doug and Phil with

laughter. I keep getting medals for shootin’ - dunno

why. The bullseye is as big as a bloody possum’s bum

and it don’t move and it’s not firing back at ya like the

Johnsons did when our big scrubber bull got into their

prize cows before the Ekka last year. All ya gotta do is

make yourself comfortable and hit the target—it’s a

piece of piss! You don’t even load your own cartridg-

es—they comes in little boxes and ya don’t have to

steady yourself against the roll bar of the roo shooting

truck when you reload. Sometimes ya gotta wrestle with

the city boys and I gotta be real careful cuz they break

easy—its not like fighting with Doug and Phil and Jack

and Boory and Steve and Muzza all at once like we do

at home after the muster. Turns out I’m not a bad boxer

either and it looks like I’m the best the Platoon’s got, and

I’ve only been beaten by this one bloke from the Engi-

neers—he’s 6 foot 5 and 15 stone and three pick handles

across the shoulders and as ya know I’m only 5 foot 7

and eight stone wringin’ wet.. But I fought him till the

other blokes carried me off to the boozer. I can’t com-

plain about the Army—tell the boys to get in quick

before word gets around how bloody good it is.

Your loving daughter, Sheila.

Pethebridge, Sir Samuel Augustus by Granville Allen Mawer

Sir Samuel Augustus Pethebridge (1862-1918), public servant and military administrator, was born on 3 August 1862 at Spring Hill, Brisbane, son of Devon-born Henry Lander Pethebridge, carpenter and sometime superintendent of the Cape Bowling Green lighthouse near Townsville, and his Syd-ney-born wife Elizabeth Mary, née Symons. He attended state schools in Brisbane and Townsville and had some private tui-tion but in September 1876 followed his father into the har-bours, lighthouses and pilot department of the Queensland Public Service as a junior clerk. He also trained to become the department's electric telegraph operator and in 1885 was pro-moted clerk. On 25 August 1887 he married Mary Ada Sim-monds in Brisbane with Baptist forms.

Major advancement came his way in 1888 with appointment as secretary to the Marine Board, a post he held until 1901. His connexion with the sea was reinforced when in 1893 he was commissioned sub-lieutenant in the Queensland Naval Bri-gade, a militia force supporting the gunboats of the Queens-land Marine Defence Force. Through the brigade he met Captain (Sir) William Creswell, naval commandant of Queensland and later of the Commonwealth. Pethebridge was to reach the rank of commander on his retirement from the brigade in 1903. Following Federation, his naval and adminis-trative qualifications secured for him the appointment of chief clerk in the Department of Defence under the secre-tary, Captain (Sir) Muirhead Collins. In 1906 Collins went to London and, although he nominally remained secretary until 1910, control of the department passed to Pethebridge. As acting secretary he effected major changes in administration.

In 1905 administrative control of the naval and military forces was vested in two boards of officers. The minister for defence chaired and Pethebridge was secretary to both bodies, unam-biguously establishing the principle of ministerial authority. His minister Thomas Playford was to write of him that 'a more hon-ourable man or a more competent officer it has never been my fortune to meet'. Pethebridge was not a public figure, nor a policy innovator. Thirty years in the public service had made its conventions of anonymity and subordination to ministers sec-ond nature to him. His only venture into the public arena was a memorandum, officially published in 1908, on the proposed organization of a national guard for land defence. Even this was not a personal initiative. He was merely giving substance to the Deakin government's compulsory military training pro-posals and brought a purely administrative approach to the task. In any dispute between ministers and the military there was never any doubt about where Pethebridge would perceive his duty to lie. Creswell was opposed to the visit of the Ameri-can Fleet in 1908, so Deakin appointed Pethebridge to make arrangements for its reception.

His duties were onerous and he was conscientious; Pethebridge's health began to fail. In 1910 he succeeded Col-lins as secretary but his most vigorous years were already be-

hind him. In 1911 he accompa-nied Commonwealth ministers to London for the Imperial Con-ference and was appointed C.M.G. in 1912. At the out-break of World War I he was returning from abroad. There was a reluctance to displace the acting secretary, Thomas Trumble, who had distin-guished himself in the frenzied weeks which preceded the despatch of the Australian Im-perial Force; Trumble contin-ued to act for Pethebridge who was offered command of the North-West Pacific Expedition raised to occupy German is-

lands north of the equator.

He accepted the post and was given the military rank of colo-nel, but before the expedition could sail the British govern-ment decided to allow the North Pacific islands to be left in the hands of their Japanese occupiers. Pethebridge suggest-ed that his unit, known as Tropical Force, might be used to relieve the expeditionary force led by Colonel W. Holmes which had captured German New Guinea in the first weeks of the war. This was accepted, and in January 1915 Pethebridge succeeded Holmes as administrator at Rabaul.

Pethebridge's task was an unusual one for an Australian. Ger-man New Guinea was occupied territory and under the terms of the capitulation its laws and customs were to continue in force, including some at variance with British practice such as the use of corporal punishment to ensure labour discipline. The restrictions irked Pethebridge but he scrupulously ob-served the terms which set the bounds of his administration. He could be neither empire builder nor missionary. His role was caretaker of a valuable asset, to be husbanded against the day when Australia might gain legal right of possession.

One of his first tasks was a tour of outposts, which took four months. After April 1915, however, he rarely left Rabaul and his administration settled into the enervating routine of garri-son life. Pethebridge's main achievements were economic. Communications throughout the territory and with Australia were consolidated, kidnapping of native labour was stopped and the Australian banking system introduced. The territory's trade was secured for Australia and economic life normalized as far as possible. An important element in the even tenor of his administration was freedom from interference: Trumble and the defence minister (Sir) George Pearce were content to leave matters largely in his hands. Pethebridge's contribution was publicly acknowledged by promotion to brigadier general in 1916 and appointment as K.C.M.G. in 1917.

For a man of his age and health every month in the tropics was a gamble and in January 1917 his luck ran out. He con-tracted malaria which permanently weakened him and forced him to return to Australia in October. In Melbourne his condi-tion worsened and he died on 25 January 1918, survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. He was buried with full military honours in Box Hill cemetery.

Pethebridge was a man of distinguished appearance and his official persona was remote and even dour; but those who knew him in his more informal moments, particularly his sub-ordinates at Rabaul, testified to personal warmth and sympa-thy. He inspired affection as well as respect. His successor at Rabaul, S. S. Mackenzie, later the official historian of the oc-cupation, judged Pethebridge to be the outstanding figure in the military administration of New Guinea, his work providing the administrative basis for its orderly post-war transition from German colony to Australian mandated territory.

This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol-ume 11, (MUP), 1988


Before Workplace

Health & Safety. Painting US

Warship 1930’s

May we never forget the diggers of Lark Force

I first heard the story of Arthur Turner when I was a kid. Ar-thur was mum’s cousin, reported missing in action in New Guinea during the war. I thought the story mum told me about him was sad, but I didn’t really connect with it until later in life.

He was born in Fitzroy in 1913. By the time he was 19 both his parents had died, and Arthur and his 16-year-old sister Marie were awarded custody of their four younger siblings. In the 1930s, Arthur put himself through night school to be-come an accountant while working at the Melbourne Herald. The story goes that the newspaper would give him sixpence for tram fares to run errands; he would pocket the money and ride his bicycle instead. The wider family were so proud of Arthur and Marie; to the younger kids they were heroes, protectors. They held the family together.

In June 1940, Arthur volunteered to join the army, thinking he would fight Rommel in North Africa. Instead, within a year he was posted to Rabaul on New Britain, part of New Guin-ea, to help monitor and defend the outermost reaches of Australian mandated territory. Known as Lark Force, the garrison consisted of 1400 men, mostly Victorians.

Early in January 1942, Rabaul was bombed by the Japa-nese in preparation for invasion. Arthur wrote to Marie dur-ing this time; in his surviving letters he warned that the war was closer than many down south realised. But he signed off reassuringly, “Cheerio & love to all.”

A 5000-strong Japanese invasion force landed on January 23. The Australians, given the order “every man for himself”, scattered to the hills in groups. Arthur was last sighted by his Sergeant at Kasalea police station, 100km south of Rabaul, in early February. There were reports of machine-gun fire the next day, locals reporting that three Australians had died. Stragglers were rounded up and taken to nearby Tol Plantation. It is unclear whether Arthur was shot at Kasalea or whether his fate was sealed at Tol. I hope it was the for-mer.

What happened at Tol Plantation on February 4, 1942 should tear at the heart and soul of every Australian. Some 160 members of Lark Force who had either surrendered or been captured were mercilessly slaughtered. Six men es-caped by feigning death, including Private Billy Cook. Bayo-netted 11 times, he crawled into the jungle bleeding profuse-ly, but survived and eventually made it home. It is only from the accounts of Cook and his mates that we know the truth

of what happened at Tol.

Groups of up to 10 men at a time were trussed together with rope and marched into the jungle, where they were shot or bayo-netted or both. Some prayed, some begged for their lives; some said “cheerio” to their mates. Two escapees from Tol took refuge at neighbouring Waitavalo Plantation, where a week later they were discovered by the Japanese. According to witnesses they were smeared with pig grease and locked in a hut, which was set alight.

Private Arthur Lawrence Turner is listed as having died at Tol Plantation. His adoring sister Marie only ever knew he was miss-ing in action; it wasn’t until 1988 that the truth came out with the official release of first-hand accounts. Marie was traumatised by Arthur’s disappearance. A tall, striking woman who never mar-ried, never had children, she devoted her life to the care of oth-ers. She never spoke of the war. Upon her death, family mem-bers found an unopened box in her Gippsland home. It was Ar-thur’s medals.

I hope that in Arthur’s final moments he had a love to remember and a God to pray to. I know he had a loving family to think of. May we never forget the diggers of Lark Force and the atrocities they endured.

Bernard Salt

3200 Years in one Photo-graph.

~ At Sequoia National Park ~ USA.

Not every tree has a nick-name, but 'The President' has earned it. This giant sequoia stands at 247 feet tall & is estimated to be over 3,200 years old.

The trunk of “The President” measures 27 feet across, with 2 BILLION needles from base to top. Because of its unbe-lievable size, this tree has never been photographed in its entirety, until now.

The tree was named after President Warren G. Har-ding in 1923

National Geographic photog-raphers have worked along with scientists to try and cre-ate the first photo that shows “The President” in all its glory.

The men standing near the top and the trunk of the tree give a good indicator of the tree's size.

National Geographic Dec 2013.


This clock is at the Bangalow Post Office building in Bangalow,

NSW. about 20km west of

Byron Bay. The number of letters matching the clock num-bers are reflec-

tive of its meaning

Some people won’t admit heir faults:

I would - If I had any.

Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant twice a week.

A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing.

She goes Tuesdays

I go Fridays.

Simogun, Sir Pita (1900–1987) By B.J. Allen

Sir Pita Simogun (c1900-1987), soldier, politician and communi-ty leader, was born about 1900 at Bargedem, in the East Sepik district of German New Guinea, son of Haletuo and his wife Yesmari. Haletuo be-longed to the Warborge clan of Mountain Ara-pesh-speaking people; Yesmari was from Sua-piri village, near coastal Dagua. Orphaned as a child, Pita accompanied his mother’s ‘brother’ to

Salamaua where his ‘uncle’ worked on a copra plantation. On the plantation he learned Pidgin and became familiar with Europeans. He joined the police force of the Mandated Terri-tory of New Guinea, served at Mount Hagen and by 1935 was a lance corporal at Nakanai, West New Britain. At the out-break of World War II he was a sergeant.

In December 1942 in Australia Simogun joined a coastwatch-ing patrol destined for West New Britain and led by the naval officer Malcolm Wright. After preparations near Brisbane, on 30 April 1943 the patrol was landed from the submarine USS Greenling at Baien village, near Cape Orford. An observation post was established, from which Japanese aircraft and ship-ping movements were reported. In October 1943 the party crossed the rugged interior of New Britain to Nakanai, where they operated as a guerrilla force. Simogun led local men in attacks on Japanese troops. About 260 were killed for the loss of only two men. The party was withdrawn in April 1944. Simogun is credited with having maintained the morale of the group under often very difficult circumstances. Warned that the operation would be dangerous, he had replied: ‘If I die, I die. I have a son to carry my name’. He was awarded the BEM for his war service.

In 1948 Simogun returned to Urip village at war-ravaged Da-gua. Using ideas about farmers’ co-operatives gleaned in Australia during the war, his influence with senior Australian colonial administrators, and war damages compensation money paid to the villagers, he replanted the village coconuts; set up a Rural Progress Society to grow rice; encouraged the Mountain Arapesh people to move to the coast and the Wogi-nara settlement scheme; and supervised the building of a road along the coast, now known as the Sir Pita Simogun Highway. He established his own plantation and used a net-work of ex-policemen and soldiers to spread his ideas. Op-posing cargo cult leaders in the Yangoru area, he argued consistently for economic development as a counter to the cults. In 1956 he set up the But-Boiken Local Government Council.Simogun was the only Papua New Guinean to serve on all four Legislative Councils, from 1951 to 1963. Elected to

the first House of Assembly (1964-68) for the Wewak-Aitape electorate, he was an active and influential member and under-secretary for police. Dame Rachel Cleland observed that he was a natural orator, whom no one could equal in style: ‘He extracted drama from his new glasses by sweeping them off his handsome Roman nose with a gesture, thrusting them to-wards the Chair . . . to make a point and pausing, with the dis-tinction of a Disraeli, just long enough for effect’. Sir Paul Has-luck judged him ‘an independent and forcible spokesman for his people’ and ‘one of the really big men of his country’. In 1967 when the oil palm settlement schemes opened in West New Britain, Simogun took up leases on a number of blocks, persuading most families at Urip to go with him.

Appointed MBE in 1971, Simogun was knighted, recommended by the government of Papua New Guinea in 1985. He had mar-ried three women: Wurmagien from Alamasek village, Wiagua (Maria) from Boiken, and Barai (Bertha) from Kubren village at Dagua. Wurmagien had two children, Wiagua one, and Barai eight. Sir Pita Simogun returned to Urip in the 1980s and died on 11 April 1987 at Wewak. He was buried with full military honours at Moem Barracks army cemetery.

This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 18, (MUP), 2012

Effects of WWI lingered long in Australia

World War One changed Australia substantially, from its signifi-cance on the world stage to the economic impact it suffered as a result of the conflict.

When Billy Hughes became Australia's seventh prime minister, six months after the landings at Anzac Cove, few outside the Commonwealth knew much of either him or the country he led.

Australia, until then, had basked in unruffled security at the bottom of the world and the man who was to become known as the "Little Digger" had made only a limited impression at home, let alone abroad.

But by the conclusion of the First World War, Australia, due to


12 Pl D Coy PNGVR Madang, circa 1968. Back. Bob Carmichael, Duncan Watanabe,?, Steven ?, ? 2nd

Back. ?, ?, Mathew Ber, Eddie Matthies 3rd back. Sgt Malea Eala-dona, Lt JES Hansford, Maj Neville Harris, Lt Daryll Smith, Colin

Gould, 2nd Front. David Murray, ?, ?, Arawa Paru, Front. Gregory Aioaio, ?, ?, ?. Photo Daryll Smith. David Murray worked at the

Commonwealth Bank in Madang as a teller and subsequently went on to become CEO of the Commonwealth Bank, Chair of the Federal

Governments Future Fund, and was recently appointed Chairman of AMP following the Financial Services Royal Commission

a sacrifice by far the greatest per-capita of any Allied nation, was on the map.

And, as the ensuing peace talks unfolded, Hughes estab-lished his presence on the international stage going blow-for-blow with British prime ministers, Japanese emperors and an American president who described him as a 'pestiferous varmint’. Hughes and his deputy prime minister, Joseph Cook, nevertheless became the first Australians to sign an international peace treaty when, on June 28, 1919, they put their names to the document that dictated Germany's post-war fate. Hughes came to Australia's top office at an unenvi-able moment.

At Gallipoli Australians were being killed and wounded in their thousands, worse was about to come on the Western Front and his predecessor, Andrew Fisher, had resigned due to the pressures of the war.

A complex and seemingly contradictory man, Hughes be-longed to six different parties during a 51 year political ca-reer that began with his election to the first federal parlia-ment in 1901 and ended with his death in 1952.

His dedication to the survival of the British Empire may have been understandable for a man born in Britain, but at the same time he was a staunch promoter of Australian national interests and a solid unionist.

Throughout the war, Hughes was torn between his devotion to the cause of Australia and the Empire, his Labor ideals and a determination to win the war at all costs. This test of his principles led to him leaving the Labor Party but not be-fore he defied party policy in his push to introduce conscrip-tion to supplement the dreadful battlefield losses.

His government could have introduced the necessary legis-lation, but because it was contrary to Labor policy, Hughes decided to put the conscription issue to the people and in two divisive referendums it was defeated, firstly in 1916 and again in 1917.

A more successful, and less well-known, wartime endeavour was Hughes' negotiation of the purchases by Britain of Aus-tralia's and New Zealand's, entire wool clip. Under the su-pervision of the Central Wool Committee, the British govern-ment bought every bale of wool - 7.1 million of them, or about one billion kilograms - produced in Australia between 1916 and 1920. The British paid 160 million pounds for the wool, keeping alive an industry that carried the country.

But it was at the post-war peace talks that led to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles that Hughes rose above his rela-tive obscurity to stand up, rightly and wrongly, for Australia.

Determined to resist pressure from Britain, the United States, Japan and other allied nations as they wrestled for power in the Pacific, Hughes made Australia's case strongly and well. And when US President Woodrow Wilson, whose country only entered the war a year before its end, ques-tioned Hughes' authority, as the leader of a mere five million people, to intervene in world affairs, Australia's prime minis-ter responded with scathing dignity. "I speak for sixty thou-sand dead," he told Wilson. "For how many do you speak?”

As well as seeking control of the former German territories of Samoa and New Guinea, Hughes insisted on the inclu-sion, a "guilt" clause in the peace treaty, requiring Germany to pay the full cost of the war to the Allies, not just compen-sation for the damage it caused. Germany was eventually asked to pay 6.6 billion pounds from which Australia would receive an estimated 275 million pound war debt. The last instalment of that debt was duly paid in 2010.

As deserved as these demands may have seemed, the rep-arations and other severe conditions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, are credited with laying the foundation for the Second World War.

But Hughes's fight to establish Australia's security and independ-ence in the Pacific was accompanied by his desire, demonstrat-ed during the peace talks, to preserve the White Australia policy that had widespread support at home.

To many, Hughes' attitude represented a new maturity for Aus-tralia. To others, it demonstrated lingering and unnecessary ties with the world. To the men he'd sent to war, however, he was a hero and on his return from the Paris peace talks returned sol-diers hoisted their "Little Digger" onto shoulders and carried him down Sydney's George St.

Australia's official war historian, Charles Bean, wrote, perhaps prematurely, that the war left Australia with the impression of being at the forefront of human progress. "In some, not unim-portant, respects they had reason to," Bean wrote. "(It also) brought a new confidence into Australian national undertakings. Early in the war not a few Australians had watched with diffi-dence the departure of their force as an improvised contribution to the great armies of the Allies. "That diffidence was a natural survival from the colonial days. The return of the A.I.F., its lead-ers covered with distinction, its ranks acclaimed overseas as one of the notable fighting forces of history, deeply, if insensibly, af-fected that outlook.” But the end of the war also left Australia with an issue as trying as the conflict itself: taking care of the survivors, the war widows and their children.

The long-term cost of medical care and welfare benefits to re-turned soldiers and the dependants of those who didn't return was on a scale never before encountered.

A peak of 283,322 war pensions were being paid in 1932. By 1938, only a year before the Second World War commenced, 77,000 incapacitated soldiers and 180,000 dependants remained on pensions that by then had cost Australia nearly 148 million pounds. Their associated medical bills ran to another 8.5 million pounds.

The post-war period also saw the establishment of new political parties, trade unions assumed new power and communist para-noia developed. And it also included the greatest economic up-heaval the world has known - and it hit Australia harder than most. Australia's heavy dependence on primary exports meant Australia felt the Great Depression affected the country acutely. As an imperial dominion, Australia's economy was intricately linked with that of Britain. As well as trade, Australia was still dependent on industrial capital from Britain, so as the British economy slumped after WWI so did the Australian economy. Unemployment reached a record high in Australia of 29 per cent in 1932, one of the highest rates in the world.

It was a situation from which Australia never fully recovered be-fore it again went to the aid of the old Empire.

Repatriation: the digger carries on

Of the nearly 272,000 Australians who survived the war, 170,000 suffered from wounds or illness. In 1918, the Australian Govern-ment created the Repatriation Department, which established a comprehensive and centralised repatriation scheme. The depart-ment managed pensions for the disabled and those no longer able to support themselves, and for dependants of those who died. It established employment bureaus, vocational and rehabil-itation training for returned servicemen and women. Free medi-cal and hospital care, hostels and homes were provided for the totally and permanently incapacitated, and artificial limbs for am-putees.

The long-term costs of medical care and welfare benefits follow-ing the war were on a scale never before encountered. In 1938, there were 77,000 incapacitated soldiers and 180,000 depend-ants still on pensions. War pensions had cost Australia nearly £148 million, and medical care £8.57 million. In addition, there were 1600 men still in hostels and homes for the permanently incapacitated, and about 23,000 outpatients in repatriation hospi-tals.

Grieving and remembrance


World War I left behind a vast legacy of sorrow that was felt for generations. The loss of 60,000 Australians meant that scarce-ly a family in Australia was left untouched. Yet for many, the sadness was deferred or unresolved.

The lack of details about the fate of more than 23,000 missing soldiers delayed the grief for their families. Even into the 1920s, many clung to the slim hope that perhaps a mistake had been made and their son, brother or husband might still be alive and unable to find his way home.

Communities in nearly every Australian city and town erected memorials to honour their war dead. Rolls of honour listing those who served and died were erected in schools and halls. Some communities built memorial drives or avenues of honour.

Official attempts to address collective mourning on a national scale took the form of public commemoration, such as Armi-stice Day ceremonies, and the building of national monuments in each state and territory.

Source: AAP & SBS 25 Mar 2014.

Seven Aussie companies win Rheinmetall contracts

Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price has announced seven small businesses that will partner with Rheinmetall De-fence Australia on two major projects for the Australian Army.

Visiting the new headquarters of Supashock Australia in Ade-laide, Minister Price said the seven companies would share in nearly $20 million of work under the LAND 400 Phase 2 and LAND 121 Phase 5B.

LAND 400 Phase 2 will provide Army with 211 Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicles – which Rheinmetall will assemble at their facility in south-east Queensland, while LAND 121 Phase 5B will provide heavy and medium logistics vehicles and mod-ules.

“This is an excellent example of how the big defence compa-nies are working with local businesses on these large projects,” Minister Price said.

“The seven contracts announced today are the initial contracts as part of around $1.9 billion of work to be undertaken by Aus-tralian industry.

“Each company will be part of a growing cohort of local small businesses already delivering parts and services to Rheinmet-all as the company builds its network of suppliers across Aus-tralia and establishes a local capability to underpin a national military vehicle industry.”

The companies receiving contracts today are:

- Cablex: A Melbourne-based company that will sup-ply vehicle systems and C4I cabling for the first 25 Boxers.

- Eylex: A Sydney-based company that will supply crew com-munications equipment including headsets for the first 25 Boxers.

- Tectonica Australia: A Melbourne-based company that will supply driver’s aids for night-time situational awareness for the first 25 Boxers.

- ABI Coating Specialists: A Brisbane-based who will paint and finish the first 25 Boxers.

- Bartlett: Based in Ballarat, Victoria, will supply tarpaulins for selected Rheinmetall MAN high-mobility logistics vehicles.

- Supashock: An Adelaide-based company that will sup-ply spare wheel carriage system for Rheinmetall MAN heavy transport vehicles.

- Varley: Based in Newcastle NSW will supply various mod-ules for the Rheinmetall MAN high-mobility logistics vehicles.

Minister Price welcomed the opening of Supashock’s new facilities today, which marked the expansion of the company into Australia’s defence industry and the creation of 60 new jobs.

“Supashock is a shining example of how our investment in Australia’s defence industry is creating new opportunities and more jobs for small businesses across Australia,” Minister Price said.

“I congratulate them on the opening of their new facility, and thank Premier Marshall for his government’s support of this project.”

Contact Newsletter 99. August 2019.

The Naming of Mt Hagen

Not well known by Australians in the History of New Guinea that in the late nineteenth century there was a group led by a newspaper correspondent and professional traveller Otto Eh-lers who crossed the rugged Owen Stanley Range in 1895 from just south of Salamaua in German New Guinea to Kere-ma in British New Guinea.

Ehlers' planned crossing of the Owen Stanley Range

Ehlers planned 1895 crossing from the Huon Gulf across the Owen Stanleys to the Gulf of Papua Despite being warned by German Administrator Rudiger not to attempt the precipitous crossing, Ehlers set out on the journey from the Huon Gulf to the Gulf of Papua accompanied by Wilhelm Piering, a police officer, two Buka policemen and supported by 41 carriers and


If Australia’s biggest electoral

district Durack was a

country it would be the 19th largest on

Earth. At 1,587,758

square kilometres,

Durak is bigger than France,

Germany, and Spain

combined.

A Rheinmetall Boxer CRV negotiates an obstacle on the Driver Training Circuit at Puckapunyal.

Got up this morning and ran around the block four times. Then got tired , so I picked up the block and put it back in

the toy box.

one servant. Ehlers cal-culated his 44-man expe-dition would average six kilometres a day, there-fore reaching the south coast of British New Guinea in 30 days.

Other than rations for five weeks and some trade goods, eight government supplied rifles and two shotguns, the explorers carried no more than the clothes on their backs. Geographical instru-ments were left behind as was photographic and other scientific equipment

as these were regarded as unnecessary baggage.

The party started inland from the mouth of the Francisca River just south of Salamaua on 14 August 1895.This was not far from the German patrol post of Morobe which was just near the boundary of British New Guinea. Nothing was heard or seen of them until 20 members of the party were picked up by the Mo-biabi tribe on the Lakekamu River in British New Guinea on 20 October, 67 days after they had begun the overland journey. Ehlers and Piering were not among them.

It seems rain had set in before they reached the only inland village on their track, with the first carrier dead within 10 days. After five weeks exposure to rain and cold, cutting their way through dense rain forest, climbing steep mountains and across precipitous ravines, and wading through leech infested creeks, Ehlers and his men had run out of food. Reduced to eating grass and leaves and distressed by dysentery and other ailments, fewer than 35 men reached a tributary of the Lakekamu River around 30 September. They hacked their way along the crocodile infested river for nine days before the wa-terway could be negotiated by two rafts they fabricated.

After another six days of navigating rapids and narrow water-ways, 20 men reached the village of Motumotu. But when one raft capsized, the two Buka policemen with the party, Ranga and Upia (Opiha ) decided that, to make room on the remaining raft, they would kill Ehlers, Piering and several carriers. So they shot them.

When interviewed by Mekeo District government agent, Kowald, the two conspirators concocted the story that the Ger-mans had drowned. Only after the British administration in Port Moresby returned the few survivors to their home did the truth emerge. Imprisoned for murder, Buka Policemen Ranga and Upia man-aged to escape and when pursued shot dead the newly ap-pointed Administrator of mainland New Guinea Curt von Ha-gen. The two escapees were then speared to death by the Gogol people, their heads severed and taken to Stephansort near Madang as evidence for a reward that had been posted by the New Guinea administration. There was a monument erected in honour of Curt von Hagen in the Bogadjim area of Madang Province and a bigger one has been erected near by. Today it is an attraction for tourists.

Robert Lenton Parer

War-time Nurse Honoured

Gallipoli Barracks’ 17 Bde Precinct has been renamed the Bullwinkel Lines in honour of World War II nurse Lt-Col Vivian Bullwinkel.

At the unveiling of a monument to coincide with the renaming on September 13, 2GHB nursing officer Lt Kylie Johnston said 17 Bde members were proud to further recognise the contribution of Lt-Col Bullwinkel.

“This ceremony is a testament to the courage that Vivian Bull-winkel showed, not only during her service, but also in her tireless advocacy for nursing and those who served,” Lt John-ston said. Lt-Col Bullwinkel is the ADF’s most decorated nurs-ing officer, having survived the Bangka Island Massacre where 22 Australian nurses were executed by Japanese forc-es.

She was a prisoner of war for three years, caring for wounded and ill prisoners. After her service, Lt-Col Bullwinkel led a distinguished career, including serving on the Council of the Australian War Memorial and as Australian College of Nurses president. Comd 17 Bde Brig Andrew Freeman said Lt-Col Bullwinkel represented the Army values of courage and leadership. “Vivian stands for what a true soldier should be and what we should all strive to achieve,” Brig Freeman said.

The precinct named in honour of Lt-Col Bullwinkel continues to provide combat health support to the Army and provides a unified identity for those 17 Bde elements in Gallipoli Barracks

Army News 1451

Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 01 tracked in waters near Christmas Island off Western Australia

A high-tech Chinese research vessel has been detected map-ping strategically important waters off the Western Australian coast where submarines are known to regularly transit.

In January and February, officials closely tracked the move-ments of the oceanographic ship as it conducted deepwater surveys in the Indian Ocean near Christmas Island and the Australian mainland.

An Australian Border Force (ABF) spokesperson told the ABC it was aware of the Chinese vessel's presence and confirmed it had stayed within international waters. "The Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Defence are aware that the Chinese oceanographic ship Xiang Yang Hong 01 [is off] the coast of Western Australia," the spokesperson said. "The vessel has not entered the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (AEEZ) other than for a direct transit through the AEEZ when transiting past Christmas Island."

One Defence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity,


You come from dust; you will return to dust. That’s why I don’t dust - It could be someone I know.

said the Xiang Yang Hong 01 was "undoubtedly" mapping wa-ters regularly used by Australian submarines heading to and from the strategically important South China Sea’ "Beijing is keen to know as much as it can about the water, about these submarine routes, and it would also be wanting to test and monitor the Australian response to the presence of a high-tech Chinese vessel that's loitering off its coast," the official told the ABC.

The official also noted the Chinese vessel spent a considerable amount of time in waters not far from Naval Communication Sta-tion Harold E Holt, located just north of the town of Exmouth.

At the same time the Xiang Yang Hong 01 was detected off Western Australia's coast, the Virginia-class fast-attack subma-rine USS Texas arrived at HMAS Stirling naval base outside Perth, for a scheduled port visit.

According to the US Naval War College, the Xiang Yang Hong 01 was commissioned in 2016 for, among other things, "comprehensive observation in the field of military oceanogra-phy".

In 2018, the Xiang Yang Hong 01 was found to be operating illegally within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Palau, prompting the tiny western Pacific nation to demand China remove the re-search vessel.

Last year, the ABC revealed two other high-tech Chinese ships were mapping waters close to Papua New Guinea where the United States and Australia had just begun upgrading a naval base on Manus Island.

The deepwater Chinese scientific surveys are part of Beijing's unprecedented oceanographic research of the Western Pacific, in an area experts believe could be crucial in any future maritime conflict with the US.

At the time, China's Foreign Ministry insisted its rapidly expand-ing oceanographic mapping activities were all conducted within international law and helping global scientific understanding.

"China's oceanographic, scientific research in the Western Pacif-ic is totally in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and made contributions to maritime scientific study," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the ABC in April.

ABC Defence Correspondent Andrew Greene 2nd Mar. Last surviving veteran of iconic Kokoda Track campaign

photo dies, aged 100

The last surviving World War II veteran depicted in an iconic photo of the bloody Kokoda Track campaign has died in North Queensland.

Arnold Forrester was in his ear-ly 20s when he joined the fa-bled 39th Infantry Battalion and

was one of the last surviving members of the group. Un-trained and under-equipped, Mr Forrester was a company runner during battles against the Japanese on the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea in 1942.

More than 600 Australian troops died.

Margi Pavlovic, one of his four children, said she was glad she visited him at his Townsville nursing home on Sunday morning before he suffered a suspected cardiac arrest.

Mr Forrester celebrated his 100th birthday in August 2019.

Mr Forrester outlived the other veterans in a photo captured by award-winning war cinematographer Damien Parer. The group of six are depicted smiling and carrying rifles as they trudge through the muddy track after a battle at Isurava. It has been printed in history textbooks and displayed at war memorials.

Mrs Pavlovic said her father carried the photo with him on Anzac Day marches in recent years. "He was just very proud of [the photo — that was mateship," Mrs Pavlovic said. "Even though it was a terrible battle, that was the big-gest thing in his life."

ABC 18 Feb

New Operation COVID-19 Assist established

The Australian Defence Force is expanding its support to the national COVID-19 pandemic response by establishing Op-eration COVID-19 Assist.

Led by Major General Paul Kenny, Operation COVID-19 Assist’s role is to coordinate and deliver the military aspects of ADF’s support to civilian agencies.

Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said the operation com-prised seven state-and-territory-based task groups.


Arnold For-

rester 2nd from Left.

Sgt Geoff White, NGVR, NG 2390, with his native boi

Kumu. At this time Geoff was in charge of native carriers on the

Salamaua front. Geof-frey John White was born in Hobart on 10 May 1914 and was a

gold miner and planter of Slate Creek. He was promoted to Lt when transferred to

ANGAU. Photo was taken during a visit to

Battle Area New Guin-ea 9 Oct 1942 by AS Drakeford, Minister

for Air.

“The ADF is contributing to a national response to protect Australians and support state and territory capacity in a time of crisis,” Minister Reynolds said.

“Under Operation COVID-19 Assist, Defence will provide customised support to state and territory authorities, to rein-force and expand their capacity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Minister Reynolds said that on 9 March 2020, Defence es-tablished a COVID-19 taskforce led by Lieutenant General John Frewen to coordinate Defence’s internal response to COVID-19 and support to the whole-of-government effort to address the impacts of COVID-19.

The minister did not explain how Major General Paul Ken-ny’s operation and subordinate task forces would fit into or alongside the higher-ranked Lieutenant General Frewen’s task force, or whether or why the superior officer’s task force was now needed or not.

She said assistance from the ADF was being co-ordinated through the Emergency Management Australia-led whole-of-government response to COVID-19.

“There are already around 570 ADF members providing support including contact tracing, planning assistance and assisting police with mandatory quarantine arrangements for international air arrivals,” Minister Reynolds said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic requires a proactive national re-sponse and Defence is well postured to provide scalable support to states and territories, as needed, for the duration of this effort.”

Chief of the Defence Force General Angus Campbell said Defence capability and capacity is ready, willing and able to assist where required.

“There is no higher priority for the ADF at this time. We are here for the people of Australia,” General Campbell said.

Major General Kenny previously served as Director General of Special Operations and Counter Terrorism Operations.

Contact Newsletter 116. Australian Veterans Covenant

The Australian Defence Veterans’ Covenant serves to rec-ognise and acknowledge the unique nature of military ser-vice and the contribution of veterans and their families.

The covenant is supported by the Veteran Card, Lapel Pin and Oath. These provide the opportunity for Australians to identify veterans when they are not in uniform or wearing their medals, and offer respect to them and their family. Employers, businesses, local community groups and the broader Australian public are able to commit their support for the covenant.

The Covenant provides the framework that enables veterans and their families to better connect with their community.

To apply for the Veterans’ Covenant for veterans and reservists go to

https://recognition.dva.gov.au/how-veterans-can-apply-information-page

ANZAC DAY 2020

None of us had ever seen the likes of Anzac Day 2020. The restrictions introduced to combat Covid-19 meant the cancella-tion of all organised Anzac Day events.


Above 2 photos. Lae after WW11. Note ‘Tenyo Maru’ in photo 2. Below. Growing up in Lae after WW11. This gun is now in the park

opposite old Lae airport. Photo below from Cheryl Matchett.

Reservist Private Connor Styles from the 9th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment, supporting the mandatory COVID-19

quarantine arrangements for international travellers at Brisbane Airport.

However the idea that people should acknowledge our service personnel past and present resulted in the idea of standing in the driveway at 6am to show our support.

Below are some of our members Anzac Day commemorations:-

VALE. Kenneth Everard Peter Connolly

860331 24.6.1927—17.2.2020

Ken was born in India where his father, as had a number of his ancestors, was serving with the British Army. He moved to Sydney in 1948 with his parents who did not enjoy life in India after Independence so his father obtained a job in Sydney. Ken found life in Sydney boring and moved to PNG in 1948 as a Kiap. He had seen an ad in the paper and when he applied

asked just what he duties were and was told he would find out when he got to PNG. His first posting was Kikori in the Gulf District, and while on the ASOPA long course (2 years) in 1956 met his future wife, Val.

They were married at the Ela Beach Protestant Church in 1957 and moved to Rigo—by trawler as no road from Port Moresby existed at the time. Ken actually pioneered the first road from Rigo to Moresby by driving his Land Rover with a Police Boi sitting on the bonnet giving directions.


Above L and R. John McGrath at Samford, Brisbane. His wife, Carmel, joined him after taking

the photos.

L. Gil Harvey-Hall at Shailer Park, Brisbane.

Below. Kerry Glover with wife Elaine, family and neighbours at

Mount Coolum, Qld.

Next column Top. Don Lawie at the Babinda

Memorial

Next. Rabaul on Anzac Day.

Next. This appeared in the skies over Sydney at Dawn.

Don writes “ I first played my pipes at the same Babinda Anzac Park, as a beginner in 1956. I left Babinda in 1959 to com-plete my pharmacy studies in Bris-bane and then travelled wide-ly, came back to Babinda in 1970 having bought a pharmacy here. I have played at almost every

Anzac Day and Remembrance day, plus RSL funerals, until 2017. It was fun to be able to have a last blast.”


FUNCTION DATES

New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and Papua New Guinea

Volunteer Rifles Ex Members Association Inc,

Includes former members of the PIR, PIB and NGIB.

For correspondence contact Secretary, Colin Gould, email [email protected] , phone 0424 562 030 (The Secretary, P O Box 885, Park Ridge, Qld, 4125)

For Military Museum enquires contact Paul Brown, Curator, email [email protected] . Phone 0402 644 181 or

Colin Gould, Assistant Curator, email [email protected] , phone 0424 562 030

( NGVR/PNGVR Military Museum, Corner Boundary Road & Fulcrum Street, Wacol, Qld, 4076)

Membership fee payments to Treasurer, Doug Ng, email [email protected] , phone 0413 014 422

(NGVR & PNGVR Ex-members Association : BSB: 064006 - A/C: 10001126)

Website Master: Trevor Connell email [email protected] , phone 0409 690 590

www.pngvr.weebly.com (all back copies of HTT may be obtained from our website)

Facebook Master: Kieran Nelson , email [email protected] , phone 0412 236 013

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ngvrandpngvrmilitarymuseum/

Harim Tok Tok Editor: Bob Collins, email [email protected] , phone 0413 831 397

President: Email [email protected] to get on members electronic distribution including Harim Tok Tok (you will receive it in colour, earlier and can adjust the print size to suit)

Chaplain. Rev Ron MacDonald. Phone 0407 008 624 email ron.macdonald@aue,salvationarmy.org

NGVR/PNGVR service recollections are copyright.

The Association would like to thank King & Co Property Consultants for its continuing support including the

printing of this edition, together with the past 64 issues of Harim Tok Tok.

Their contribution is much appreciated.

His next posting was Kundiawa but only briefly as he was quickly moved to Kainantu where he spent two terms, then to Kerogawi and Dumpu. After the Highlands Ken and Val hated the Gulf District and, when Ken was offered the position of Chief Industrial Officer, PNG, based in Moresby they moved there for 8 years. For some time Michael Somare, then a Member of the House of Assembly, was their immediate neighbour.

He joined the PNGVR whilst in Port Moresby, not having had an opportunity to do so in his previous postings.

Having been in India when Independence was gained, Ken and Val moved to Australia in 1975. Like a lot of people from PNG Ken found it difficult to obtain a job because of his sen-iority but eventually obtained a position as Industrial Officer with the ABC in Sydney, where he also doubled as their Trav-

el Officer. When made redundant they moved to their holiday unit at Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast. They stayed on the Gold Coast and in 2015 moved into a Retire-ment Village at Ash-more.

Ken was a strong sup-porter of the Associa-tion and attended many functions.

They have two children Derek and Rena, both born in PNG. At time of writing Derek is in ICU on the Gold Coast after his second heart attack.

LEST WE FORGET.

Canberra member Michael White spends several days week-ly as a volunteer at the Australian War Museum. He has an interest in the ANMEF (Australian Naval and Military Expe-

ditionary Force) which was dispatched just after the out-break of war in 1914 to New Britain to take the German

held Radio Station at Bita Paka. He has commenced a web

site www.anmef.com.au about the Force. A lot of work

has gone into this with many individual members histories told and it is an extremely interesting web site.

Great work Michael.

Thanks to the efforts of Webmaster Trevor Connell and his assistant Richard Muir our own website

www.pngvr.com.au is now receiving over 40 visits per

month with an average viewing of 7 pages per visit. The lay-out of the site has been altered to make it more interesting.

Ken aged 92. Note fathers medals on his Right hand side.

Sat 13 Jun. Sat 15 Aug Executive Committee Meeting Museum 10am.

Members always welcome.

Wed 1 Jul. Montevideo Maru Memorial Service

9.45 for 10am. Anzac Square Shrine, Brisbane

Above subject to Covid-19 restrictions in force at the time.

mailto:[email protected]






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